Quote:
Originally Posted by Huinesoron
I think you're right? One of the bits I elided was Tolkien saying, of "modernized" forms (of "Northern" forms which are standing in for Rohirric; I think "Northern" means "Old English" in this case), "They are mostly place names". His example is "Dunharrow (for 'Dunharg')", and Tolkien Gateway says that -gard is from Old English -geard; so despite not being as obviously "modernised" as Wormtongue, it looks like Isengard is a "modernized form" and should be pronounced as it would be in England.
hS
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It seems "Northern" was a euphemism used for Germanic languages/cultures during Tolkien's time, so it covers Old English. But in-universe, it could also refer to the languages of the Northmen... which Tolkien then translates into various Germanic languages (Old English, Old Norse), so same difference, I guess.
Re the personal and place names of Rohan, I think that since the "ancient scripts" were written by Westron-speakers, maybe they translated or transliterated the Rohanese words into Westron sometimes, and this is reflected in the English text as Dúnharg becoming Dunharrow and Wyrm-tunge becoming Wormtongue. The real-life equivalent would be Schwarzwald -> Black Forest; Friedrich der Große -> Frederick the Great; Den Haag -> The Hague.
But I actually think the word Isengard has nothing to do with the country of Rohan (probably even predates Rohan), and is just formed by modernizing an Old English word because Westron is an "evolved" version of the languages of the Northmen. Probably the English translation of any Westron place name could be formed like this, maybe even Adûnaic names for places in Númenor (if translated into English).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galin
The long and short of it (pun intended): I'm confused.
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I’m also confused... and pretty sure I couldn’t get the pronunciation right even if I understood the rules. I don’t have Frodo’s "skill with foreign sounds."
